Kevin Vance is pastor of Gentle Road Church of Christ in the heart of Regina’s North Central Neighbourhood. He reflects here on the recent presentation to our group by TV Thomas and and on our broader interests on promoting Missional Church ministry in Regina.
Kevin writes:
I think this needs much prayer and careful thought. What exactly are we trying to do? And how durable an initiative will it be? The long-term value of any initiative depends on the quality of the vision and also the sense of value (deliverables) that it provides to the community. When I say community here, I am thinking the church (not the community of Regina as a whole). We are trying to help the evangelical church in Regina approach people/society in a more effective, winsome and informed way. The vision and deliverables we need to consider from the point of view of the church, because ultimately it will be the churches and not the people/society in Regina who will sustain this initiative. And they will only do so only if the vision and outcomes are compelling enough to warrant continuing it.
TV Thomas’ presentation was very inspiring for me, but also gave me pause to think more carefully about what we are trying to accomplish with our group here (and also how much time I can/should invest in it). I resonate completely with missional theology and practice as you know. I think they have much to commend them. In TV’s analysis a goal to inspire individuals to be missional on their own has some value. The key question is, does it commend itself well enough to become a long-term viable operation? I am not sure. At this point I see you [Ron] being the chief catalyst for the initiative, and if it wasn’t for you, none of us would be trying to organize something like this. Obviously several of us are supportive, but another key question is, who will lead the charge in the 2nd generation of leadership of this group?
Now if the vision is more expansive, and entails something like becoming an incubator for missional projects, that moves it to another level of strategic importance, in my mind. And further, if church planting is part of the vision, it becomes even more important. I am not making determinative comments here, saying that these more expansive parts of a possible vision need to be included. I am rather reflecting on the idea that I think we need to think and pray carefully about what we are trying to do. I for one and I think all of us are busy people and love the Lord, so we need to be wise about how much time and energy we have, and very strategic about the organizations we start.
This page is a response to the presentation by Dr. TV Thomas, available here: